A horoscope once told me (and i don't read horoscopes so Why did I have to find this one?) that my sign, an Aries, is stubborn and unable, unwilling to see more than one side of an issue. Like anyone, I wouldn't mind some happy, healthy relationships, but i'm finding that damn horoscope to be true sometimes--and troublesome. I've found through writing we can get a broader perspective. Also, aren't these miniature Mark Twains funny?

About Me

I made up the word "propoquerian"--its a hybrid between a proposition and a query--a statement and a question, which is how I would characterize most of my writing. I'm a creative writing major and I love to find stories where there seemingly are none--like in a man tying his shoe. I love all things vintage 50's housewife. I like to live in some moments, and sit down and think others. I'm trying to get a healthy balance of the two :)

Friday, September 24, 2010

Not Everybody Talks

I am not maternal. I would not categorize myself under "caregiver" and when I walk into a room, I cannot sense what mood someone is in. I am in my own world and I have always figured, that is okay. When I need to talk, I do. I figured, everyone else speaks up when they need to, too. I am wrong, of course.

Luckily, when it is really, really quiet it occurs to me, the other person has interiority too. It strikes me, like a bible smacking me on the head. "Wake UP! You're Selfish!"

Tonight it was very, very quiet. In our kitchen. 1 am. My roommate massaged her own feet while I grilled a burger. "We're both quiet because we're taking care of our own shit" I thought.

But it was quiet. And I considered that my roommate is from Japan. That she only just moved to his city of sin, this enormous city, a few months ago. She hasn't made friends yet. She has no family here.

"How are you?" I asked. She said she was fine. Twenty minutes later, after silence she put down her feet and she said "I am overwhelmed."

She wouldn't have told anyone that this night if I hadn't asked.

Does it have to be the dead of night for me to notice that somebody else may need something? How do you hone your skills at reading other people?

Mostly it's body language that I notice first, but I do have a terrible habit of opening my mouth and letting the first ridiculous thing that pops out land in front of those with me. And they either respond to it or we get that terrible cricket chirping silence.I'm not maternal either *shrugs* Ain't no thing.